Nathaniel Hawthorne's masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, was originally published in 1850 and is an American Classic. Herein lies the unabridged tale, set in Puritan New England, of Hester Prynne who conceived a child in an adulterous affair and must wear a scarlet A upon her breast. Hawthorne’s tales weave moral messages through complex and psychologically dark romance. His work is part of the Romantic Movement and The Scarlet Letter has been hailed as the first and most important novel in the Romantic Movement in America.